Foul odor reports in Royal Oak decrease, cause still a mystery

A hazmat team was out checking sewers in Royal Oak last month as investigators tried to find the source of an odor that smells like natural gas but is not, according to air sample readings and Consumers Energy. The search continues.
Royal Oak fire department photo

The good news is that investigators are getting fewer complaints in Royal Oak about an odor that smells like natural gas -- the bad news is they still don’t know the source of the elusive stink.

“We’ve never had an incident like this in the nearly 30 years I’ve been here,” said Royal Oak Assistant Fire Chief James Cook. “It’s not airborne from all the tests that have been done and I think it may be something in the sewers.”

Cook said he is moving to call another meeting of the organizations involved in trying to solve the malodorous riddle.

Royal Oak and Birmingham fire departments have been joined by Consumers Energy, the state Department of Environmental Quality, the Great Lakes Water Authority and other departments in both cities.

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Dozens of residents called Royal Oak fire officials about the smell when it first was noticed in late October. Birmingham officials have also fielded dozens of such calls.

Royal Oak officials said that Consumers Energy has gotten most of the calls from concerned residents.

Royal Oak Fire Chief David Cummins has said the search is akin to trying to catch smoke with one’s hands.

Most of the odor complaints have come from around the area of 14 Mile and Coolidge roads in the northwest part of Royal Oak and into Birmingham, officials said.

Consumers Energy has a facility in that area, but officials said multiple tests have revealed no natural gas leaks there.

Teams have taken air, solid, and liquid samples from multiple locations.

Royal Oak’s hazmat team got into sewers and took ssamples last month, but those have come back negative.

Many of the foul odor reports have come from areas close to where there are water-sewer main lines, according to Royal Oak’s city engineer.

Small trace amounts of methane gas were detected recently at the Clover Hill Cemetery on 14 Mile Road, several blocks east of Woodward, but Cook said investigators don’t believe there was nearly enough to account for all the gas odor reports.

“The reports have really dropped off in the last two weeks,” he said. “Over that period we have had less than a half dozen calls, which is what we usually get.”

Fire officials urge residents to report all incidents when they smell gas or other suspicious odors so firefighters don’t miss an emergency gas leak while the investigation into the unsolved odor reports continues.